Message on Earth Day, 2020
It’s true that the future just ain’t what it used to be!Fifty years used to be a long timeline. It isn’t anymore. After all, the Club of Rome was set up to address humanity’s “problematic” 52 years ago. And here we are now in 2020, having heeded very few lessons from that conversation, and maybe […]
Opportunities for Philanthropy: Community Resilience and Climate Action
Today, more than ever, we need ambitious, accelerated climate action that targets the most vulnerable. We need to start from the first mile, where the impact is felt most. We need approaches that enhance community resilience against the health, livelihood, and other shocks arising from climate change related disasters. We hope this paper will inspire […]
Indian Donor and Philanthropic Community Common Charter on COVID-19
Three respected leaders from the field of philanthropy and corporate sector in India have issued a joint appeal to the CSR Foundations, funding and philanthropic organisations to urgently come together and focus their efforts in protecting the most vulnerable people—the elderly, the sick, the physically challenged, the poor and informal sector, migrant workers—affected by the […]
The World After Covid-19: Unless We Are Alert, The Pandemic Could Become The Last Nail In Individualism’s Coffin
For centuries, individualism or the notion that every human individual has intrinsic value has underlined ideas about societal organisation, the economy and justice. Recently, however, the primacy of the individual’s inalienable rights and freedoms has come under immense pressure. Individualism in the West originated from the Enlightenment. It believes in the moral worth of the […]
Community Cares: A City Responds
This is an edited version of a conversation about the community response to the unfolding COVID-19 pandemic, moderated by Rohini Nilekani. Panelists include Anshu Gupta, Nalini Sekhar and Kuldeep Dantewadia. The times we are living in, and the reality of COVID-19, means that we are being called on to do things in new ways and […]
Covid-19: Securing the Present and the Future
This is the most serious crisis since World War II. Politicians must step up; voters must allow them to. Politicians are elected because they campaign in poetry, but voters don’t always account for the fact that elected representatives must govern in prose. That chasm between the promise and the delivery becomes more dangerous at times […]
The Unexplored Potential of Learning Beyond Schooling
The COVID-19 crisis should push us to re-imagine education in radical ways that we’ll be thankful for. At six, in grade 1, my daughter returned from school in a chirpy mood. “What did you study today?” I asked. She was puzzled. “I didn’t study anything,” she replied, “but I learnt a lot.” Education in the […]
Rohini Nilekani on Technology and Education
This is an edited version of Rohini Nilekani’s interview on the importance of digital-led education and early childhood learning, on Pratham’s 25th anniversary. Every child deserves education as a fundamental right in this country. But even today, we are not able to guarantee that right for all the children in India. The journey of bringing […]
Women’s Day: Rohini Nilekani says her 20th century-born grandmother was modern in best sense of the term
Born Godavari Ketkar, at the turn of the 20th century, she spent her childhood in the sylvan surroundings of the Gwalior palace, as her father was an ambassador to the maharaja’s court. She spoke of going to the little local school in deer carriages. The beautiful young Goda came to Belgaum at the age of […]
सवाल, पक्षियों की आखिर अहमियत क्या है?
चेतावनी… हाल ही में जारी स्टेट ऑफ इंडिया बर्ड्स 2020 रिपोर्ट का डेटा बेहद चौंकाने वाला है बसंत का मौसम है। मौसम पंछियों वाला। देश में भले आप कहीं भी रहते हों, घने जंगल से लेकर बियाबान रेगिस्तान या फिर गली-मोहल्लों वाले किसी शहर में। संभावना है कि सुबह आपकी नींद पक्षियों के चहचहाने से […]